| Highlights |
Revenue of $20.16 million in Q4-08; $80.03 million for FY-08
Net income of $2.58 million in Q4-08; $9.10 million for FY-08
Gross margin of 59% in Q4-08; 56% for FY-08
Cash generated from operating activities was $4.27 million in Q4-08; $14.15
million for FY-08
|
Edmonton, Alberta – November 5, 2008
Matrikon Inc. (TSX:MTK), a leading provider of solutions for industrial intelligence, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended August 31, 2008. Matrikon’s president & CEO Nizar J. Somji commented on the quarter: "Our fourth quarter results cap off a record-breaking year for us."
For FY-08, Matrikon posted revenue of $80.03 million, an increase of 9% from FY-07. Net income increased to $9.10 million from a loss of $220 thousand in FY-07. Earnings per share for FY-08 were $0.30, increasing from a loss of $0.01 per share in FY-07.
Fourth quarter revenue was $20.16 million, up from $18.44 million in Q4-07, and net income was $2.58 million, up from a loss of $245 thousand in Q4-07. Earnings per share in Q4-08 were $0.09, compared to a loss of $0.01 per share in Q4 of 2007.
"Our fiscal year 2008 results are a strong validation of our strategy for building a stronger company. We made a dramatic return to profitability in FY-08 while also growing the business and I’m confident that the infrastructure we now have in place will allow us maximize our future growth potential," Somji continued.
Complete financial statements, notes to the financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on November 5, 2008 and are available to download from the investor relations section of our website at www.matrikon.com/investors.
Quarter Highlights:
We paid $10.10 million in dividends on our common shares ($0.30 special and $0.03 regular dividends), which contributed to a $4.84 million decrease in cash and cash equivalents from Q3-08.
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities increased due to increased commissions and bonuses payable based on strong results throughout the year.
Our Products strategy continues to bear results, with software license and support revenue comprising 37% of total revenue in the quarter.
We achieved record software license revenue of $5.00 million, a 9% increase over the previous record set in Q3-08.
Support revenue was also a record at $2.47 million, a 9% increase over the prior record set in Q3-08.
Sales by Reseller Partners were exceptionally strong, with 42% of the total annual sales by Reseller Partners coming in Q4-08.
Strong Product revenue contributed to record quarterly gross margin of 59% and record net income of $2.58 million.
On the Solutions side, at $11.50 million, consulting revenue was relatively flat compared to Q3-08, while utilization was down 6% to 71% versus 77% as many consultants took vacation over the summer months.
We continue to gain traction with our industry applications and are rolling Matrikon Mobile Equipment Monitor out to additional mine sites. We also sold our first Matrikon Mine to Port in the quarter and implementation is underway.
We sold our SCADANet business to CriticalControl Solutions Corp. for net proceeds of $0.67 million.
Q4-08 G&A expense increased by 23% compared to Q3-08 as a result of increases in legal and professional fees and start-up costs related to Matrikon SoftDEL India Private Ltd.
Outlook
We remain committed to our strategy and will continue to build upon it in 2009. The objectives we will report on throughout the year are as follows:
Increase employee retention by 20%
Increase sales of off-the-shelf products
Increase sales through our Reseller Partner Program
Release Intuition™ and begin to build Matrikon Suite™ products based on it
Grow revenue from licenses & support to 33 – 35% of total revenue
Release one significant new product upgrade each quarter
Continue to grow industry solutions, with:
- Six new corporate clients for Matrikon Well Performance Monitor™
- Two new corporate clients for Matrikon Mobile Equipment Monitor™
- Two corporate clients for Matrikon Mine to Port™
- Two new oil sands clients for Matrikon Production Management™
Annual Results
Complete financial statements, notes to the financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis will be filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) on November 5, 2008 and are available to download from the investor relations section of our website at www.matrikon.com/investors.
Our information circular and other annual materials will be mailed on or about November 10, 2008.
Annual General & Special Meeting
We invite you to join us at Matrikon's 2008 annual general and special shareholders meeting on December 11, 2008 at 1:00 pm MT (3:00 pm ET). The meeting will be held at our head office in Edmonton, Alberta: Suite 1800, 10405 Jasper Avenue. The AGM will be webcast and podcast (live and archived) at http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=2465760.
Conference Call Friday, November 7 at 9:00 a.m. ET
A conference call will be held on Friday, November 7, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. ET (7:00 a.m. MT). To participate live, call 416-644-3429 in the Toronto area and 1-800-814-4862 for all other areas.
A replay will be available until midnight on Friday, November 28, 2008. To access the playback service, please dial 416-640-1917 in Toronto or 1-877-289-8525 elsewhere, reservation number 21285846 followed by the pound sign.
The conference call will also be webcast and podcast at http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=2439360.
About Matrikon
Matrikon (www.matrikon.com) provides industrial software solutions to process control industries, empowering their clients to achieve operational excellence. Matrikon products transform production data into knowledge and action that enable users to maximize performance while managing risk. With offices throughout North America, Australia, Europe and the Middle East and a client base that includes industry leaders in a wide range of process industries, Matrikon's reach is global. Empowering excellence since 1988, Matrikon is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol MTK.
For more information, contact:
Nicole Sayler
Corporate Communications Director
780-945-4010
877-628-7456 x 4010
email: nicole.sayler@matrikon.com
Matrikon, Matrikon Suite, Intuition, Matrikon Well Performance Monitor, Matrikon Mobile Equipment Monitor and Matrikon Mine to Port are trademarks or registered trademarks of Matrikon Inc.
Forward Looking Statements
In order to provide our investors with an understanding of our current results and future prospects, our communications often include written or oral forward-looking statements. This annual report, including the MD&A, and other materials filed with the Canadian securities regulators contain statements that are forward-looking. These statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements represent Matrikon’s intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs and are based on our experience and our assessment of historical and future trends and the application of key assumptions relating to future events and circumstances. These statements may include, but are not limited to, comments about: our objectives and priorities for 2009 and beyond, our strategies, expectations for our financial condition, the outlook for our operations, and external factors that may impact results, including global economies and industry trends.
Forward-looking statements require assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties related to our business and the general economic environment, many beyond our control. There is significant risk that the predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections we make will not prove to be accurate and that our actual results will be materially different from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. We caution readers of this Annual Report not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements may be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to general economic conditions in the countries in which we operate; currency fluctuations; market demand for our products and services; our ability to execute projects and deliver solutions; our ability to execute our strategic plans and to complete and integrate acquisitions; the degree of competition in the geographic and business areas in which we operate; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and contain payroll costs; our ability to contain expenses; technological changes and research and development; the length of the sales cycle required to close larger solution contracts; availability of financial resources to carry out our strategy; our ability to protect our intellectual and intangible properties; legal claims; critical accounting estimates; the possible effects on our business of war or terrorist activities; disease or illness that affects local, national or international economies; and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply.
We caution that this list is not exhaustive of all possible factors.
Other factors could adversely affect our results. For more information, please see the discussion on the principal risks that could affect our results, beginning on page 52 of this management’s discussion and analysis.
The assumptions behind our belief that we will grow in 2009 include: global economic and political stability at current levels, that the opportunities in our pipeline will materialize as contracts, that our clients will continue to invest in initiatives that support efficiency and reduce costs, and that we will continue to be able to inspire, motivate and maintain our employee base at a sufficient level to deliver on our objectives.
When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Matrikon, investors should carefully consider these factors, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and the inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements. Unless required by law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the company or on its behalf.